"Boss says to take the purple one. This one's good as dead."

It's like hearing someone talk while you're underwater. Raphael groans as he's kicked onto his back but he can't bring himself to move. Everything's fuzzy. Everything hurts. His eyes drift shut again and he faintly hears an engine roaring, fading away.

"Raph! Raphael!"

Fuck, he messed up. He messed up bad, didn't he? Donatello was right, after all, about everything he said. He didn't have to be a baby and quit over it. Maybe if he had just sucked it up and stayed in the lair—

"Raphael, wake up! Despiértate!"

Someone's shaking him and he slowly opens his eyes to see Taylor's blurry silhouette hovering over him. He groans.

"Tay...?"

"Oh my god, what happened?" she demands.

"Not...safe..." he mutters.

"Would you quit it with the protection shit for one second?!" she snaps. "Dios mio, you look like someone ran you over!"

"Feels...like it..."

He winces as she tries to push him into a sitting position. "Fuck, you're heavy."

He can't even try to help. It feels like his muscles won't listen to him. After all that work he put into them, they betray him like this?

His head lifts, just for a second, and when it rests again, it's on a soft yet solid familiar surface. He'd recognize her thighs anywhere. He exhales, trying to force his eyes open more, blinking again and again to try and clear the haze.

She strokes his head as gently as she can and god, he's glad she didn't quit. He's so glad she followed his dumb ass over here instead of leaving him to his devices. She's warm and she smells good and he's just...so glad she's here.

His brain feels funny.

"We have to get you back to the lair," she says, her voice pinched with urgency. "I can't carry you."

He nods, just barely. "Gonna...try." He shifts his leg, trying to sit up, but a wave of nausea washes over him and he flops against her lap again. "Nope...not yet."

"Okay, okay. Rest. We'll...we'll get there."

----------

"You sure this is a good idea?" Destiny asks. Leonardo frowns a little and she adds, "I have total faith in you, seriously, but...it feels weird doing this without the guys."

Leonardo stares at the Italian restaurant ahead of them, arms crossed over his chest. There's a metal sign on the door that declares "We don't serve mutants." If there were any doubt about who's inside, it's gone now.

He sighs. "We don't have much of a choice. Let's go."

Leonardo leads the way. Destiny, Sarina, Leatherhead, Slash, and Doctor Rockwell fall in behind him. Leonardo makes a point of ripping down the metal sign, bending it in half as he walks with purpose into the lion's den.

From the second they open the doors to the Don's private dining room, tensions rise. The room itself is long and narrow, the red velvet walls adorned with paintings in ornate gold frames. Every table has candles on it and a giant chandelier dangles from the ceiling. Aside from the handful of faceless goons, there are four men of any notable intrigue: two greying older men with identical faces, although one has an old bullet wound scar on his cheek, a man with a square, stubbled jaw and a sleek pompadour and sunglasses, and the one who can only by the Don himself. He sits at the furthermost table, taking an entire six-top for himself that's laden with food and drink. He's the biggest man in the room, both in sheer size and weight.

A few goons rise from their tables when the mutants enter, but Rockwell and Slash stop them from getting close enough to do any damage. It allows Leonardo to walk without interruption, right up to the obese Italian man seated at the head of it all.

"Don Vizioso?" Leonardo asks, throwing the bent sign from outside onto the table. "We need to talk."

Don holds up his hand as he lifts an entire wine bottle to his lips, taking a good long drink. He exhales as he lowers the bottle, then chuckles. "I get to watch these freaks get whacked from the comfort of my own restaurant? This is truly a gift."

The pompadour man chuckles, cracking his knuckles.

"We're not here for a fight," Leonardo says. "We're here for a truce. If you aren't willing to leave the city peacefully, we are prepared to make you."

Don cackles, spurring laughter from his subordinates. He digs his fork into a pound of butter, lifting it to his sauce-stained mouth. "Get a load of that. It knows my name!" He takes a bite of the butter, laughing as he dips it in a pile of marinara. "Know any other tricks?"

More laughter.

Leonardo slams his hands on the table, rattling the dishes. "There are more mutants in this town than you can handle, even with your mutant hunter weapons!"

Don Vizioso finishes his butter, crumbs falling from his lips as he chews. "That's exactly why we're not leaving. This city's got a real mutant problem." He burps, smacking his lips as he wipes them with a kerchief. "We're not going anywhere, 'cause we're human. It's you monsters who don't belong."

Destiny bristles, taking a step forward, but Leonardo puts his arm out to stop her without a word. Her tail lashes as she bares her teeth at Don, but she doesn't move. Behind them, a growl rumbles deep in Leatherhead's chest.

A phone rings and one of the twins brings a box-like phone over to Don.

"Excuse me, mutants," he says, picking up the receiver. "Hello? Ah...you don't say. Well, thank you very much." He hangs up and fixes the mutant team with a smug grin. "One of your turtle brothers is dead—"

"No!" Leonardo, Destiny, and Sarina say in synch.

"And the other belongs to us now," Don continues, undisturbed, "as does that little lizard pal of yours."

"My friend..." Leatherhead rumbles. Slash puts his arm out, stopping him as he moves forward.

Destiny trembles with the effort of not leaping across the table and ripping Don's throat out. Sarina stays deadly still, eyes and palms glowing steadily brighter with each passing second, and Leonardo's head bows as his hands clench into fists.

"So, it's your move, freaks," Don says, picking up a pork chop and shaking it at them.

More laughter erupts around the room. The pompadour guy pulls the gold nail he's been chewing on from between his lips and flicks it at them. As it hits Leatherhead square between the eyes, his eyes go white and he roars.

Destiny snaps. "Oh, you're dead!"

Chaos erupts. The goons open fire, mutant hunter lasers going off around the room, and others rush at the mutants even as they duck for cover. Don flips his table over as Destiny lunges for him, blocking her advance and briefly sparing his life. Destiny has barely sprouted more than a tuft of fur when Leonardo yanks her back, shielding her from the hail of laser bullets raining over them.

"Leo—" she starts, a snarl locked in her voice.

"I can't lose you too," he retorts.

"Get—GAH!" Slash grunts as multiple lasers hit him in the plastron, knocking him down.

Leonardo and Destiny get up as Don Vizioso's laughter grows and red smoke starts to spread from behind his chair. Then, somehow, the chair takes flight, trembling as it steadily rises.

"The nerve gas!" Rockwell says.

"Stop him!" Leonardo orders.

Don soars over them, kicking his feet and gripping his lamb chop like a grotesque toddler on an amusement park ride. The gas trails behind him.

The mutants try. They do, but the nerve gas fills the room and the humans are unaffected. Rockwell shrieks as bullets graze him. Leonardo, Destiny, and Leatherhead rush after the Don, but find themselves overwhelmed by goons. It's getting harder and harder to see and none of the mobsters are sticking around to enjoy the show.

Sarina is the last one standing, fighting against the gas even as her limbs twitch and her eyes start to flash erratically. She keeps firing off random blasts, but none hit their mark.

"Waste 'em!" someone shouts from near the exit.

"First respectable thing we've done for this city!"

"No!"

Destiny morphs into her wolf and covers Leonardo just as Leatherhead snatches Sarina and Slash close. Rockwell zooms between the assailants and his friends, catching the mutant hunter rockets in his psychic grip just before they make impact and pushing them up and away.

The roof crumbles as it explodes with more gas. Rubble rains down, bouncing off Destiny and Leatherhead's backs, and the rest of the nerve gas trickles out through the hole in the roof. Leonardo coughs as the gas clears and Destiny stays in her wolf form, limbs trembling, giant pink tongue lolling as she tries to catch her breath.

Leatherhead slowly releases Sarina and Slash from his grasp. Sarina grips the gator's arm, stare a thousand miles away. Destiny lets out a low groan and collapses, shifting back into a human just as she drops on top of Leonardo. He sits up, bringing her with him as he holds her close.

"Nice shot, Rockwell," Slash says, rubbing the charred spot on his chest. "Those weapons...they're no joke."

"Everything feels weak and I hate it," Destiny says.

Silence falls as the group looks at one another.

"Donatello..." Sarina whispers. "Raphael. They...one of them..." She presses her hand to her mouth and her eyes flash rapidly even as she closes them. "My Donatello..."

"Let's get back to the lair," Leonardo says. "We...we'll figure something out."

No one argues.

----------

"He said...dead? Really?"

Leonardo bows his head, nodding once. Michelangelo sits on the couch, his expression tortured. Leatherhead lingers behind him, curled up with his snout on his arms, and Slash won't stop pacing. Rockwell floats a few inches off the ground with his eyes closed, meditating deeply. Sarina disappeared into the lab the second they got back and Destiny sticks by Leonardo's side.

After a second, Michelangelo sniffles and wipes his eyes with his good arm. "I...I'm sorry, Leo. If I wasn't hurt, maybe I—"

"You're not even supposed to watch TV, much less fight," Leonardo says, keeping his tone as gentle as possible. "We're going to get him back."

It's like there's a pit in his stomach, not knowing which of his brothers he's rescuing and which one he's burying. It's like a nightmare.

Annalise enters from the kitchen with a tray of snacks and a large glass of water. She hurries to Michelangelo's side, setting the stuff down next to him before leaving a gentle kiss on his forehead. She gives Leatherhead a nervous look and the gator rumbles at her, nudging his nose towards her, and she reaches over to pat him. She gives everyone a sad half-smile.

Destiny growls as she gets to her feet. "Are we coming up with a plan or not?"

"Of course," Leonardo says. "We can't rush into this though. We underestimated those thugs and their weapons already. We won't let it happen again."

"The Don's got a stronghold at the Highnight hotel in the Bowery. No one gets in and no one gets out," Slash says as he finally stops pacing back and forth. "If he's holding anything valuable, that's where it'd be."

Leatherhead lifts his head. "Including captives."

"Alright, so—"

The turnstiles at the front of the lair creak and every head turns. Taylor moves towards them, struggling under the combined weight of her guitar and Raphael clinging to her. Raphael groans a bit as he limps along with her help, looking battered and bruised but very much alive.

"Raph!" Leonardo cries.

Michelangelo hurries to his feet and joins his brother in rushing to them, Destiny on their heels. Taylor looks exhausted, a sheen of sweat making her dark hair stick to her face, but she spares a smile at the relief on Leonardo and Michelangelo's faces.

"Dude, we thought you were dead! Or maybe Donnie but you know—" Michelangelo rambles.

"Those cabrónes didn't think to finish the job," Taylor says. She exhales as she adjusts Raphael's arm over her shoulder. "Could I, uh, get some help? He's kinda heavy."

"I've got him," Leonardo says.

Destiny wordlessly sweeps to Raphael's other side and, together, she and Leonardo get him to the living room. He puts his face in his hands the second he's seated.

"I blew it," he mutters. "I led 'em right into a trap..."

"Hey, we're a team," Leonardo says, gripping his shoulder as best he can without hurting him. "We cover each other's mistakes. We'll get them back."

"If he's alive..." Annalise pipes up. Her eyes brighten, the happiest she's been since Michelangelo got hurt. "Then Donnie's alive too, right? And that Vizioso guy has him?"

As if on cue, the door to the lab slides open and Sarina steps out, eyes wide and slightly red-rimmed. She takes one look at Raphael and realization dawns. Her shoulders sag a bit as her lips part.

Destiny's tail wags. "So...Sarina, you want to help bust some mobsters?"

"They have my Donatello," she states. Her eyes flash and she smiles a little. "You can count on me, and they can count on regretting the day they were born."

"Sheesh, I've got goosebumps over here," Taylor whistles.

"We have to make it quick," Raphael says. "Whatever they want Donnie and Gecko for, it can't be good."

"Alright, let's make a plan," Leonardo says. "Raph, if you need to rest—"

"I've rested enough," Raphael says. "I'm in." He looks to Taylor. "If you want to come..."

She shakes her head. "I think hauling your ass down here was enough exercise for today. I'll hold up the fort with these two." She jerks her thumb at Annalise and Michelangelo, giving them a smile. "Gotta find something to entertain you while you heal up that concussion, huh?"

"Dudette, I'm so bored, you have no idea," Michelangelo says, dead serious for one of the few times in his life. "Lisey brought board games, though!"

"I did," she confirms, hugging Michelangelo's good arm, her cheek pressed to his shoulder.

"Sweet," Taylor says, flashing a peace sign.

"Taylor," Leonardo says. She lowers her hand and raises an eyebrow at him as he bows his head to her. "Thank you."

She blinks. "Did the nerve gas get to your head, azul?"

He smirks a little as he rolls his eyes. "Probably."

----------

It doesn't take long before they're ready to go. Michelangelo waits with Annalise on one side and Leatherhead on the other, lips pursed.

"I wish I was going with you," he says to Leonardo and Raphael.

"Another time, little brother," Raphael says. "Want me to punch anyone for you?"

Michelangelo smiles. "Nah, but a fresh pizza when you get back would be nice."

"We'll bring two," Leonardo promises.

Taylor pulls Raphael aside, eyebrows narrowed a little. "Don't get yourself killed out there," she says. "I won't be there to drag you back home."

"I won't."

"And...can we please talk later? For real?"

He nods. She stares at him for another second before her expression crumples with emotion and she pulls him in for a tight hug. He exhales as he returns it, squeezing her as hard as he can without hurting her, and she squeezes back.

"Love you," she mumbles.

"Love you too," he replies. She pulls away, again arching her eyebrow at him, and he huffs. "I do. I really do."

She gives him a quick kiss, gently pushing him with her fingertips to his chest when she steps away. "Prove it by coming back alive, okay?"

"Will do."